diff --git a/.github/workflows/Dockerfile.install-toolchain-free b/.github/workflows/Dockerfile.install-toolchain-free
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b455137b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/Dockerfile.install-toolchain-free
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Verifies that `pip install` for this package resolves purely to prebuilt
+# wheels, with no source build required. Mirrors restricted runtimes such as
+# the AWS Lambda Python base images, which don't ship a C toolchain.
+FROM python:3.14-slim
+
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY . .
+
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --only-binary=:all: .
diff --git a/.github/workflows/install-toolchain-free.yml b/.github/workflows/install-toolchain-free.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aa28230f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/install-toolchain-free.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+name: 📦 Install without build toolchain
+on: [push]
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  install:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 10
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Install dependencies in a container without a build toolchain
+        run: docker build -f .github/workflows/Dockerfile.install-toolchain-free -t aikido-zen-install-toolchain-free .